Electric sign.



G. VON SAALPELD ELECTRIC SIGN,

A?PLIGATION FILED JULYLIIOU 1,041',174. Patented. 00x. 15, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

G. VON SAALFELD.

ELECTRIC SIGN.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1, 1911.

LQQLI'WL Fatented 0015.15, 1912 a SEEMS-SHEET 2.

INVENTOR Gumier VOJ7SC4QLf'6ZCZ ,041,17&.

ooooow 00000 00000 APPLICATION TILED JULY 1, 1911.

G.VONSAALPELD.-

ELECTRIC SIGN.

Patented 0ct.15,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

OQGOO GG GOO Q GDOQ OQOQO OGOOC INVENTCA I v J ficatiou of ihe structure shoun in idle sliruclure shown ir.

UNITED s'rurue PATENT QFFIGE.

comm vow S AAJ'E'ELZB, @l? BMTTLE, ill-$3133 GTGN.

ELEGTRIS SEEN.

orelei.

To all whom. ii may concern:

Be it knowu'that I, GUNTER you Slumrun), a citizen oi'the United Siates, residlug at Seattle, in the county of King and Suite of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvement 312- Electric Signs, o l which ch'e following iv ii specification,. reference being. had thereih to the 5.0-.

comperiyiug druwin y This invention: re ates to electric signs which the letters or eheraciers o'if +die Sign are iudiczitedby means of electric lumps.

. The invention has special' reference to "shah clues of cleccrie signs in. which the letters or churec zere of a sign indicated by electric la may be ciuauged by means of a switch board etc his pointheviug ii number of switches electrically connected with said lamps and meme fior changing letters; or figures of i-he Sign by operating seed owl-lobes.

The inveutiou has for its ohjece lo orcvide an imgercvedelectric Sign apparatus of this kind by meens of whicl': the lumps of the sign may be readily cud easily illuminated to form the particular letters or charucters and provide difieicut designs and ures in the group of lamps meuuied on the Elf"). boo-rd.

, derri gto the accompanying draw ixi' szfldigure i is am enlarged view in per 5; ire of one end of a structure, the en tire structure containing groups of swiiches dud mean for closing electric circuits with weigh hoard banks of lamps to form diiierent leb-rers 01 e sign indicated by cer tain of said hanks oi lamps which form the desired letters or characters, .Z is detail View lo. perspective of one of the mer- *cury cupe employed with the structure drown in l! l. 3 is apleu View of with i; of

a covering: plate bro detail view ir lion of a lumps mounted cherecu. View in pers e 033 conducti Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view llusf I the electric circuits connecting a. group of switches with a bank of ilw cleclriclecips.

I fipeolficeiion of Iaetsera Balea ic Paignbgd Got, 15, 191 2, Application rues; July 1, 12m. Serial Kc. causes.-

Fig. 9 is a plan View showing several letters in the banks of cups. I

in the construction of this invention a suitable frame is employed which, aspartly shown in Fig. 1, consists of an oblong board 1 provided with u pair of longit-udinal veriicel strips 2-, end a lateral base strip 2' on one side of the frame. Located at intervals and resiing upon the top of the longitudinal strip 2 are a number of plates 3 hinged to one of the longitudinal strips 2 and provided with circular openings 4. Located above and corresponding in uurnberwith a number of mercury cups 5 seated on the base portion 1, each of said cups 5 having cenilfll apertures 6 through which projects a metallic contact point 7 connected with an electrical conductor 8 which leads to a bank of electric lamps 9, more particularly hereinafter referred to. Each of ihe hinged plates 3 is electrically connected by means oi all electrical conductor 10 with a branch circuir wire 11 connected by branch wiresl2 with the poles each of the electric lamps 9 andlocaied in said electrical conductor 10 is a butler l3 and a switch i l. The electrical conduciors 8 connected with the contacc points 7 are connected with the other poles of the lamps 9 as shown in Fig. 8. In order to form. "the letters in the several banks of electric lumps on the sign board met zillic letters are employed with contact points which are placed on the several hinged plates 3 so to complete an electric circuit from said points through the mercury cups and the elecirical conductors 8 and 10 to the particular of lamps which are located in the. electric circuits closed by the points on the metallic letter placed on the plate cmrduciors to a particular set of lamps in "the bank of lamps. J so as to form the letter E in ihc set of lamps thus illuminated. in this Way. a word or words or designs are .ncd uud indicated by the illumination is on the sign. By means of the id; which located opposiicf eech of mercury cells individual iwlceied by culling-1p rl'uin lumps in the different banke tact the electric circuits connected therewith. In Fig. is shown a modification oi: the conductors on the letter which are placed onthe plates 8- whiclrconductols consist of coilsulating plate, a series of conductors each connected to a respective cup and extending through the plate for connection with a wire, said cups being; adapted to contain mercury, ribs on'said insulating plate and extending upwardly tl'ierelrom, a plate of conducting material having perforations therethrough, said perforations being ar ranged to register with the centers of the mercury cups, said plate being adapted to rest in spaced relation above the cups on Said ribs, in combination with a metallic character having spacedcontact members adapted'to pass through selected perforations in the corulmrting plate, and dip into the mercury, said character being arranged to rest upon the conducting plate when the Contact inel'nbers dip in the mercury.

2. Ina circuit closer for display signs, an insulating base plate provided with spaced parallel ribs, a of mercury cups arranged in spaced relation between said ribs, each 01'? said cups being held in posi-- tion on the base plate by a conductor member OXlQIltlil' through the bottom of the cup and the base plate, a conducting plate hinged to one of the ribs of the base plate and having its free edge adapted to rest on the other edge of the base plate, said conducting plate being provided Witha series of perforations equalin number to the mercury cups and corresponding in position thereto, the conducting plate being held in spaced relation to the mercury cups, 1

and a metallic character adapted to rest upbn theqconducting plate and receive cur rent therefrom, said character being provided with a series of conducting members adapted to pass through selected perforations in the contact plate and dip into respective mercury cups. i

3. A contact maker for display signs consisting of an insulating plate, a series of cups mounted in spaced relation on said insulatingplate, a series of conductors each said character being arranged to r st upon the conductin plate when the contact members dip in tv e mercury, each of said conducting members of the metallic character comprising a coiled metallic spring adapted to engage the Y ottom of the respective mercury cup when the character is in contact with the plate.

a (t. In a circuit closer for display signs, an insulatin base plate provided with spaced paralel ribs, a series of mercury "cups arranged in spaeedrelat-ion between said ribs, each of said cups being held in position on the base plate by a conductor the cup and the base plate, a conducting plate hinged to one of the ribs of the base plate and having its free edge adapted to reston the other edge of the base plate, said conducting plate being provided with a series of perforations equal in number to the mercury cups and corresponding in position thereto, the conducting plate being held in spaced relation to the mercury cups, and a metallic character adapted to rest upon the conductin plate and receive current there from, said character being provided with a series of conducting members adapted to pass through selected perforations in the contact-plate and dip into respective mercurycups, each of said conducting members otethe metallic character comprising a coiled .m-

tom of the LGSPBCtlVG mercury cup \vh "the character is in contact with the plat. In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

-GUNTER VON SAALFELD.

Witnesses:

Lawrence SLEDGE, J. G. B, WILSON.

conducting plate, and dip into the mercury,-

member extending through the bottom of tallic spring adapted to engage the bot- 

